Main Line Question

[High Hood]

Are there any prototype examples of a main line in a major city being downgraded to secondary (or lower) status do to a railroad building a new main or rerouting the main to different tracks?

[learmoia]

Are there any prototype examples of a main line in a major city being downgraded to secondary (or lower) status do to a railroad building a new main or rerouting the main to different tracks?

Cedar Rapids, IA has a Passenger 'loop' through downtown. That serves as a junction /industry spur..

Council Bluffs / Omaha has the Mo. Valley bypass on the UP

Rochester, NY has a bypass but the line through the city is used more..

~Ian

[jagged ben]

I'm sure there are many many such examples, especially if you go back several decades or include redunancies that occurred through mergers. You might want to narrow down the area of interest to a time period.

The original line into downtown San Francisco in 19th century used to loop around to the west of San Bruno mountain.  About 1910 the current Caltrain mainline was built.  The old mainline was first cut off in the middle so that it became two spurs, and eventually completely abandoned,  bit by bit, over the course of about 80 years.  You can still identify parts of it by noticing patterns in property lines on a map or aerial photo, even where it's all built over.

Another example is the original, classic Santa Fe line through Pasadena to Los Angeles.  Today's BNSF main passes through Fullerton.  Part of the old line is now the light rail with a handful of industries at the east end still served by an out-and back local, last I knew.

[Missaberoad]

The Soo line through Minneapolis/St Paul was downgraded after the Milwaukee merger, CP trains now use BNSF trackage through town... With the former Soo hosting the odd CN train...

Canadian Pacific built a Bypass around Winnipeg in the years leading up to WW1 (Bergen Cutoff) this included a large Hump yard with two roundhouses designed for sorting the mass of grain going to Fort William and Port Arthur... Traffic drying up during the teens and the land the yard was built on being unstable caused it to be doomed however...

Today the Bergen cutoff is abandoned the yard is a few storage tracks and The original 1880 main through town is still used. (much to the chagrin of local politicians)

[delamaize]

NP's Prairie Line from Tenino, Wa to Tacoma, Wa. was downgraded from a mainline, to secondary line when the Point defiance line was completed.

[Robbman]

Are there any prototype examples of a main line in a major city being downgraded to secondary (or lower) status do to a railroad building a new main or rerouting the main to different tracks?

NS former Southern double track main from Manassas, Va to Alexandria, Va... closure of Pot Yard and Amtrak pulling all freight off NEC almost shut it down.  Amtrak and VRE have kept it alive since...

[nkalanaga]

Kalispell, MT was on the original GN mainline.  They built a new line a few years later, and left Kalispell on a branch line.  To get to the new mainline yard in Whitefish, trains had to go northeast to Columbia Falls, then back west to WF.

Technically, Kalispell wasn't the "end of the branch" for many years, as the old mainline, now branch, went on to Marion.  I don't know when that part was abandoned, but it was before 1968.  The track in Kalispell is likely to be abandoned soon, as they're moving the last customers to a new industrial area outside town.  The businesses will have room to expand, and the railroad won't have to deal with crossing the city streets.

There was also track from Kalispell to Somers, lasting into the 70s, at least, but that was always a branch.  It served the sawmill and tie plant at Somers, and connected with the Flathead Lake steamboats

[High Hood]

Thanks guys.  It looks like a lot of new main lines took over before or around The Great War.  I found that Lynchburg VA had a Southern main line that was downgraded when a new main was built that didn't have to deal with a steep grade.

While not a big city, my hometown used to be a L&N mainline and division point until the line into Harlan County was built.

So it looks like a layout idea I have is plausible.  The layout would focus on an old main through an industrial "urban canyon" part of a city.  It used to be the main line until a new double track main was built that went around the industrial part of town.  The old main would still have locals serving customers along the line, transfer runs between yards, and it would also serve as a safety valve for the new main during maintenance or heavy traffic.  The city would be based on Knoxville TN, and the old main would essentially be laid out like the K&O line in North Knoxville that connects Coster and John Sevier Yards.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

The NS Pittsburgh Line is full of examples. The Pennsy originallywent through many of the towns along the line, but improvements early in the 20th century introduced grade separation and bypasses.

However, many of the old mainline routes were retained as spurs to serve the industries in the towns.

Off the top of my head, Duncannon, Newport and Portage come to mind.,

[glakedylan]

the parts of SEPTA and other local rr's in north and northwest philadelphia metro region
norristown to reading to schuylkill county would be an example
gone through various reclassifications and owners
sincerely
Gary

[Petty Cash]

Though not a major city, Bessemer bypassed Greenville, PA.